[newmacnow]

Just bought my first 24" iMac for personal use. My company has used macs and iMacs for the past 17 years and we have had little to no reason to ever use Applecare.
I get a little paranoid though and wonder about what happens if I have some type of problem with the computer and it has to go in for repair or replacement. What happens to all my personal data? Say there is a board level failure that won't let me access the computer to erase all my information before I send it out for repair. If it is repaired I would get it back but someone I don't know will have had access to all my personal information. Second if it requires a permanent replacement what happens to the hard drive that had all that data on it.
Maybe I am being too cautous, I don't know. I just think of all the account numbers and passwords, and ssn that could be on the computer. If it was a desktop unit I could always take the hard drive out and put it on another computer to erase it and put it back in, but in an iMac you don't have that luxury. If it would be a board level failure that doesn't allow you to boot the computer somehow to access the drive. I know the hard drive can be taken out and put back in, but would that void the warranty? I know I could always be using some type of encryption, but some times that is not always convienent or necessary under normal usage to have everything encrypted.

Just wanted to see what other peoples opinions were. I am going to test the computer for a few days before I start loading it up so in case there are any problems I won't have that issue, but over the next three years I just wonder what the procedure is with Applecare and privacy.

[beeba123]

well, you could create an encrypted drive image... keep it backed up somewhere you have access to... and that's all you can do, I guess.

[Big Mac]

I don't think it's the biggest concern in the world. Apple wants to get your computer, fix the component that failed and get it back to you as quickly as possible. In the future, encrypting sensitive files would be a good idea.

[papadopolis]

"Back it up"

man i want time machine!

[serphium]

You could keep your sensative information and files exclusively on an external drive. That way if the system drive goes belly up, your important files wouldn't have to leave home.

[peeb]

Apple deals with this all the time - most people have their bank details etc on the computer, and I don't know of any cases of identity theft from this. If you are storing things that are sensitive over and above this, most companies that have that level of security keep the machines in house and don't send machines with data out for service.

[papadopolis]

nad remember if you have an importiant file that is being deleted use secure empty trash.

[shifuimam]

Might be interested in this article:

Apple: No, You Can't Have Your Data Back, We're Keeping It - Consumerist

Just beware of sending in your Mac at all to an AppleCare repair center. I find it really shady that Apple won't let you keep a bad or dying drive to attempt data retrieval (or even just low-level format it) with a hard drive warranty replacement. Every time I've had a hard drive die, I get to receive a new drive, and keep the old one until I'm ready to send it back. I get a charge on my credit card for the value of the new drive, which is refunded when the company receives the busted drive. Why Apple doesn't do something similar is beyond me.

Then again, if it weren't so complex to get the hard drive out of the computer, this wouldn't be as much of an issue...